By Lisa Earle McLeod Steve knew he was facing a challenge. As he walked into the budget meeting, he squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. The facts were on his side. Now it was time to convince the rest of the senior team, and, most importantly, his CEO. The challenge at hand was the marketing budget. For the last two budget cycles, Steve had been shorted. Or at least thats how he perceived it. His budget had been cut to the bone while the IT and Operations budgets grew. This time he was ready. Armed with data about market share and competitive spending, he wasnt going to let his department go underfunded again. His team was counting on him. Steve was relatively new to the senior leadership team. Hed only had a few years as a manager before hed gotten promoted. But one thing he learned early on was, good leaders fight for their people. For Steve it was all about his team. The problem was, Steve was fighting for the wrong team. If you ask most leaders who their team is, theyll tell you its their direct reports. Yet in more successful organizations, a leaders first alliance is to the larger team. In Steves case, that was his peers and the CEO. Danger of silos Patrick Lencioni, author of the classic book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, says, when team members put their individual needs or even the needs of their divisions above the collective goals of the team it creates inattention to results. A leadership team with 10 agendas is never as effective as a leadership team focused on one agenda. Steve is like many well-intended leaders. He cares deeply about his people, and he also cares about the organizations success. Increasing the marketing budget may be the right thing to do. But Steves approach, even if he wins, will only accelerate siloed thinking amongst the team. In my experience, turf wars are silos with emotion. The original cause is almost never malice. The eventual war is the all too natural result of the three common conditions: No. 1: The expertise trap The VP of marketing is unlikely to know much about IT. Steve is playing in the space he knows, the area he was assigned. No. 2: Personal connections Most leaders spend more time with their direct reports than their peers. In Steves case, hes relatively new to the role. When youre in a new job one of the first things you do is connect with your team. Steve has probably been so busy leading his own team he hasnt built strong relationships with his peers, who he likely only sees at big group meetings. No. 3: Lack of holistic leadership Because the first two conditions (above) are almost always a given, leaders have to be relentlessly proactive in aligning their teams against the larger organizational goals. If Steves boss goes around the table at meetings discussing individual goals and budgets, thats what people are going to focus on. If the leader wants to get everyone going in the same direction, the senior teams primary alliance must be to each other, and their collective goals. Putting department agendas aside in favor of team goals requires trust. Leaders must have confidence their peers are in it for the team, not simply jockeying for themselves. The biggest challenge is, no one wants to go first. But when teams are brave enough to trust each other, and let go of their divisions, theres nothing they can not do. Lisa Earle McLeod is a leading authority on sales leadership and the author of four provocative books including the bestseller, Selling with Noble Purpose. Companies like Apple, Kimberly-Clark and Pfizer hire her to help them create passionate, purpose-driven sales organization. Her NSP is to help leaders drive revenue and do work that makes them proud.
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